


The Boogeyman and the tin soldiers

by Witheredtears



Category: Five Nights at Freddy's, Rise of the Guardians (2012)
Genre: Crossover, Gen
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-01-02
Updated: 2020-07-21
Packaged: 2021-02-27 12:46:51
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 8
Words: 12,256
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/22087369
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Witheredtears/pseuds/Witheredtears
Summary: Pitch Black has encountered many horrifying things through the centuries. But this? oh... this is just inspiring.
Comments: 37
Kudos: 82





	1. Under the dust.

-~w~-

One would think that after so many centuries he would be used to the feeling of crashing through a boarded window.  
Not so. He still hated it.

That was quite the crash, he counted at least three cars he bounced off of.  
If only he could harness the fear of grown men about paying insurance as well as the fear of children.

Unfortunately (for him, not for the world at large, that's for sure.) This was becoming a more and more regular occurrence. Specially since young Jack became a full fledged member of those accursed Guardians.

Even though they didn't stop any master plan of his this time, honestly he was just testing their new team dynamic (even in defeat you can learn plenty about your enemies, after all) the defeat still stung.  
Or maybe that was the fall from hundreds of meters in the sky.

Might as well retreat for this time. He made sure his Nightmares swarmed the Guardians at the moment of his fall, so he was certain they didn't know where he landed.  
Speaking of.  
This place was abandoned, covered in dust, grime and cobwebs.  
Dark, disgusting, cold, and drenched in that stagnant stench of abandonment.

It was a very homey place.

The Guardians are most likely chasing his Nightmares to try and catch him before he gets too far. He always randomly swaps between fleeing with them, or in the opposite direction, so by now the Guardians have probably split in two groups, both getting farther away from his actual location.  
They really should work on being less predictable.

Well, as far as places to hide for a short amount of time, this one was certainly not the less comfortable he ended up in.  
Humans have definitely been avoiding this place for quite some time. He could barely see the floors under all that dust.  
There's a lovely echo around, there must be numerous hallways if he had to guess.  
The walls seem to be covered in... Decorations? Of sort. Quite... Festive. Lovely.

That's an unusual high number of tables, maybe this was a food establishment? A restaurant of sorts? And what on Earth was all those... Cones, over the tables?  
There's a bit of a stench in the air. The non pleasant kind. Well, not pleasant to him. If he had to guess, it was... Joy, fun and wonder. This place must have been _crawling_ with an absurd amount of happy children for that stench to remain after so many decades.

But... There was this very subtle sweet scent under it. Not from this room thought, it came from deeper in.  
He follows the sweet smell of pure fear into another room, and as soon as he crosses the next door he almost stumbles into another table due to the unexpected strength of that fear.

But it wasn't just fear. It was TERROR, pure, powerful terror of the more primal kind, the kind of fear one feels when confronted with certain death.  
It smelled like children's fear.  
And it was coming from that stage. Or more accurately, for those three giant... Toys? Standing on the stage.

Sweet stars these things looked horrible. Like if dear North tried his hands at manufacturing nightmares of his own.  
He'll make a mental note of nightmarish toys for future plans.

These three giant two meters toys looked identical except for their heads. And maybe their color, though it was hard to tell under all the grime.  
If he had to guess, they were supposed to represent animals. A bear, a bird, and a rabbit.  
He can't help but approach them, such powerful fear. How many children have these mechanical beasts terrorized to have such amounts of terror emanating from them.

He'll never admit, not even under torture, that they managed to make him scream in fright when they suddenly lounged at him.

Luckily dirt and oxide have clogged most of their articulations making their movements quite slow and jerky. It takes him only a moment to restrain them in place with some of his sand.  
That was... Unexpected.  
While still reeling from the surprise, part of his mind is amused by the fact that that makes it two giant rabbits that attacked him tonight.

He circles them, this time keeping a bit more distance. And he's quite interested in the fact that they keep following him with their eyes.  
Man made machines should not be able to see him. No matter what sort of new mechanical eye mankind comes up with, there's the simple fact that a machine cannot believe.

So why can these three _see_ him?

He really shouldn't strain himself after his lost battle, but he cannot help himself. A bit of sand makes their way into the machines, not too different as invading a dream.  
And he shudders in excitement as the revelation hits him.

These machines aren't drenched in children's fear. They are _producing_ it.

These are children. No, no, these _were_ children. He haven't encountered something like this in centuries. Haunted objects were becoming less and less frequent, but even then those were simply an imprint, the anchoring of a whole soul, three souls in fact, was almost unheard of in this modern age.  
A little more digging confirms his theory, these machines can see him because they certainly believe in the Boogeyman.  
But curiously enough, all three of them seem convinced that the Boogeyman should look quite different.

As if he would ever wear so much purple. 

-~w~-

He is brought out of his musings by the fast approaching sound of heavy metallic footsteps.  
The scent of fear was so strong in this room that he didn't sense (nor considered, really) another possessed machine in the building.

Well, is good to see that whoever human that designed these didn't use the same mold every single time.  
This particular one was skinnier, though maybe that was due all the missing parts of it's external shell, that leaved the rusting skeleton in plain sight.  
It was also louder than the others. 

Not a bad screech he had to admit. 

Of course now being aware that he wasn't the only threatening thing in this place, meant that he was not going to get ambushed a second time.  
It was almost anticlimactic how simply stepping to the side was all it took for the haunted mechanical canine (he couldn't quite make if it was a dog, a wolf or a fox of some kind.) To slam against one of the tables.  
The crash was quite deafening, and the flying wood splinters were barely visible under the dust exploding in every direction.  
At first he was going to simply bound the machine limbs as he did with the others, but he really was starting to run low on sand at this point. So he settled for some small shackles, it should be enough to restrain it.

Now... What to do.

One does not stumbles (or gets thrown) into haunted giant dolls everyday, and such rare resources as four children souls was not something to just leave collecting dust.

The problem was, of course, that he simply didn't has the strength to travel with these four to his home. Not to mention, bonded souls were... Finicky, so to speak.  
If we went through the trouble and energy to move these machines through his shadows only to find the souls could only continue to exist while in this building, he would not be pleased.

But then again... It has been quite sometime since he made a new safe-house, a small lair away from home. And the Guardians would certainly have a hard time to find him in the middle of a city, instead of the more regular secluded areas he's used to dwell in.

Ha can already feel that exhilarating feeling of starting a new project.  
He can't help but laugh. Oh how this night took a turn for the best.

He didn't notice the four machines flinching away from his laugh. Or perhaps he simply didn't care.

-~w~-


	2. Stains

First thing first, he should explore and map this building fully, who knows what other surprises might be hidden here. Not to mention, knowing every nook and cranny of all his bases is just common sense.  
Specially with how often those buffoons barge in uninvited looking for him, as if he was the sole responsible from all their little mishaps.  
He was, most of the time. But assuming is still rude.

But what to do with these four while he explored...  
The soul containers have obviously been here for decades, so it's not like they were going to fall apart the second he took his eyes off them, but he still didn't want them just roaming around unsupervised.  
Did he even had a big enough cage for the four of them?  
Yes, yes he did. Multiple ones in fact.  
Now, did he had a big enough cage that he could trust his Nightmares to bring here by themselves without wrecking it beyond use? No, he did not.

He could always- wait. Is that... Chiming? It is. An old clock in some other room perhaps? There's no windows in this room but he's pretty certain that it should be quite early in the morning by now.

A sudden vertigo takes him by surprise, it takes him a second to realize most of the fear is now gone. No, not gone but... Muted, almost.  
Sure enough all the containers are now completely slack against his restrains.  
A quick check confirms the souls are still there (they'd better) but are now almost dormant. Before they could clearly control these metal bodies, but now they might as well be inside solid statues.

Interesting.

This is what he meant by finicky. Sometimes souls would follow a set of very strict rules only know by themselves. If this was a rule ingrained in the soul or in the container, he wouldn't know, but this particular case seemed to be "only allowed to move at certain hours".  
Well, these were children. Perhaps it was as simple as their bedtime. Although, if the rule came from the containers, who clearly had some sort of entertainment role in this establishment, it could have something to do with working hours.  
Or they could have stopped by an unrelated factor and it simply coincided with the clock chiming.  
Oh well, one way or another this made things easier for himself.

He summoned a miniature version of one of his Nightmares, and gave it the simple order to come find him if any of these four started moving again.  
Now, he had some exploring to do.

-~w~-

This one will certainly be one of his more odds safe-houses. Well, not really, that spot still belonged to his small base inside a Leviathan carcass. He should really check on his underwater plants by now. Mostly to make sure none has escaped again. Oh well, a project for another day.

Still, what did make this base pretty odd, is that it was the only one with actual windows looking to the outside. Yes they were almost all boarded over, but they were still a novelty for a Boogeyman's lair.  
The noise was also new. After all, absolute quiet could invite so much fear, with just the slightest add of some scratches or footsteps or animal calls, it was enough to turn anyone paranoid of their surroundings.  
But the city was so... loud.  
But he had to admit, there can be some fear brewed from it as well. There's something frightening about the world constantly running around you, about so many distant raised voices, car honks, tires screeching, all potentially masking the sound of someone approaching you when you last expect it.

Fear was truly an art, and could be found in any situation.

The building was decently sized, only one floor and no attic. If there was a basement he had yet to find the entrance.  
Eight rooms at least, two bathrooms, one kitchen, one office, three storage rooms of some sort, and a main stage room.  
Not bad, not bad. It was certainly nice to have a fully stocked kitchen. Of course if he ever intended to use it he will need to put some serious cleaning work first. He liked mold and grime on his walls, not his meals, thank you very much.

It did bring more questions about what exactly transpired here, for humans, little greedy creatures, to just leave all the furniture and tools behind while closing this place down, instead of just selling everything.

The office was another interesting room.  
There was also high quantities of fear present, but it felt more... Ripe? No that's not the word, spoiled?  
Grown-up, it was grown-up's fear.  
Curious.  
He lets out a chuckle, oh he knows that smell. Or more accurately, he knows the smell of someone trying to cover it up.  
A simple gesture makes his sand blow away almost all the dust (a shame, it was a lovely collection) and after that it just a matter of slightly dragging the desk away from the wall.

And there it was, blood.  
Very old blood.

Whoever did the clean up was in quite the rush. The scrubbing was frantic and harsh, but they didn't even bother with (or noticed) the small splatters in the desk legs.  
The rabbit could learn a thing or two about this place, there's just more and more surprises inside.

Silly humans, they spent so many centuries shoving their dirty little secrets in the dark, yet they never stopped to consider that that meant the dark now knows them all.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> i know not much has happened so far, but im trying to not rush the story too much. I hope you all still like the update tho! also i wanna see how far i can keep going with no actual dialogue, just for fun.


	3. Pollution

In an empty street a few dozen blocks away from the Boogeyman latest residence, a group of five spirits just finished battling the last of the Nightmares, their corrupted sand dispersed into harmless dust that will eventually rejoin children's dreams.  
One of the spirits, a young teenager looking with bright white hair, was balancing himself on top of a shepherd's staff, with a seemingly impossible level of balance.

"I told you guys the horses were a distraction."

"No, you told us 'quick follow the nightmares!' and shoot off before listening to any of us."

"Meh, it was there in subtext."

The pooka know as E. Aster Bunnymund made a strangling motion, while the youngest guardian, Jack Frost, laughed and jumped out of grabbing distance, just in case.

"I don't like this guys, this is the third time this year that Pitch attacks a random city for no apparent reason."

The small golden man with spiky hair, Sanderson Mansnoozie, nodded his agreement to the hovering colorful feathered lady, know as Toothania. Or more commonly, the tooth fairy.

"Not to mention he's getting way too good at retreating without us being able to follow him."

"Look on the bright side Tooth, that means we are getting better at forcing him to retreat in the first place!"

A mountain of a man wearing a heavy red cloak let out a booming laugh.

"HA! Jack is right Toothy, but you make good point too. It's not like Pitch to do things for no reason."

"I dunno guys, last couple of times he didn't seem to have any master plan going on. Usually he won't stop monologuing about them."

This drew a snort of amusement from both Aster and Tooth, and a silent chuckle from the Sandman.

"Yeah frostbite's right. I don't think he has anything in mind. If anything he's just testing the waters."

While Jack was dumbfounded about Aster agreeing with him, a big question mark formed over the Sandman's head.

"I mean testing us, Sandy. After centuries of the same routine suddenly we have a new teammate. I bet that good for nothing creep is trying to figure out how much of a difference is there going to be with frostbite around."

"Wait really? I don't know about that, why bother risking an ass kicking just to see how I do?"

"Know thy enemy, kid. If there's one thing Pitch never forgot is how to strategize. How do you think he's been able to keep us on hold by himself so many times?"

"Uh, makes sense I guess."

Jack didn't seem exactly thrilled that the apparent reason for the Boogeyman's latest schemes was sorely to observe him.

"Do spirits have a restraining order equivalent? I feel like I should get a restraining order."

This startled a full belly laugh out of North and Aster, while Tooth and Sandy looked confused at the term.

"Nevermind, just a human thing. Anyway, what do we do now? Not that I don't think that... wherever we are is not lovely, it's not, by the way, this place feels gross, but unless you guys wanna search under every bed in this city I can't really think of a way to find Pitch."

North frowned while he scratched his beard.

"I don't think there's more we can do here. If nothing else at least we managed to deprive Pitch from much of Sandy's dream sand. It should take him a few months at least to retrieve as much as he lost."

Bunnymund was quick to agree.

"Fine by me. This city gives me the creeps, barely any flowers or even parks around. Want a tunnel to Burgess kid?"

With a few quick taps of the pooka's foot, a sizable hole opened up in the middle of the asphalt.

"Nah it's okay, it still should be around three AM over there so it's not like I'll have much to do. I think I'll fly around a bit tonight."

"Remember Jack, it's still summer on this hemisphere, no last minute snow days."

Jack just smiled and sighed good naturally at Toothania's chastising.

"Fine fine, not going to rescue any kids from the torture of morning school, I promise."

With that the Guardians went their separate ways, Aster through his tunnels, both Tooth and Sandman flying off to continue their nightly routines, and North riding the Sleigh through one of his snowglobes, back to his workshop.  
Soon there was just Jack standing in the street, no sign that the other guardians were there at all except for a flower sprouting from where Bunnymund closed his tunnel.  
The young spirit took a long look around, shifting his weight from leg to leg.  
He looked uncomfortable.

"I'm not really feeling like north america tonight, we could go south, like Chile or Argentina, or maybe east? I haven't visited Russia for a while now." 

A swirling breeze surrounds him, telling him any option sounds good.  
The guardian of fun smiles.

"Tell you what, why don't you choose where we go tonight?"

The wind ruffled the young spirit's hair playfully, and lifted him towards the sky.  
Jack didn't say so, but he really wanted to fly off anywhere far away from here. Something felt wrong, maybe it was the summer air, maybe it simply was the heat making him feel so... unwelcome.  
Truth to be told, the wind was glad to leave as well. 

The air of this city felt dirty somehow.  
Almost heavy.  
The farther away they went the better Jack felt. 

"Yeah, must had been the heat."

Of course, being familiar with his center for such a relatively short time, Jack didn't realize that it was not in fact the heat, but instead the absolute lack of fun in that city.

It felt like no child had laughed there for decades at the least.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry this is so short x_X finally the guardians show up. also a quick disclaimer, English isn't my first language, and i can write normal dialogue just fine, but accents? yeah i cant type in accents, i dunno how people do it. so sorry if bunny or north sound a tad off :''D
> 
> But anyway, i hope you guys still enjoying this silly idea!


	4. Regurgitation

If there was one thing Pitch made sure to add to all of his lairs, it was multiple hidden rooms.  
It was such a satisfactory feeling every time someone got lost inside of his domain, running and running and always finding a new room or hallway.

The sort of desperation that comes with not knowing how big the maze you find yourself trapped in actually is.  
So he was very pleased to find such things already in place in this place.

He knew a building this size had to have a basement, he found the stairs under a hatch in the kitchen, though for some reason, it was welded shut.  
An inconvenience, for sure, but nothing a good few slices of a sand weapon couldn't pierce. 

He might have underestimated the strength of modern metals, in the end it took him a couple of hours to break through and a good reserve of his energy.  
He was going to have to take it easy for the next few days.

But it seems it might have been worth it.

The basement (if that's what this was) was a relatively small room, no bigger than the office upstairs, in fact, it was oddly similar to it.

Single chair, small desk, surveillance monitor and incredible tacky decorations.

No blood this time.  
Only high amounts of soot.

Most of the walls and floor looked like something someone forgot over the stove. He was surprised the whole room haven't simply collapsed by now.  
But upon closer inspection, both the floor and walls were made of solid metal as well.

Pitch might not be an expert on human architecture, (their sense of style has seriously gone downhill in the last centuries, in his opinion. So few gargoyles nowadays) but he had lurked in enough basements to know that metal walls weren't an everyday occurrence.

Without giving it much thought, Pitch turned towards the only doorway in the room, that sat in the wall opposite to the desk and next to the stairs to the kitchen.

The doorway was missing it's door though, whenever the door simply burned into nothing or was one of those modern retractile type, he didn't really care beyond having more areas to explore.

But the Boogeyman stopped just shy of the door frame.

With narrowed eyes, Pitch slowly raised his hand and slowly moved it around the opening, motions similar to someone wiping the dirt off a window. His arm never stretching enough to actually cross the room's boundaries.

Taking a few steps back, he grabbed hold of the charred remains of something small and plastic that was sitting over the desk, perhaps a small figurine in the past, and threw it in the opening.

It simply went through, Pitch could see it coming to a rest in the floor of the hallway beyond the door, after a few bounces.

With a curious frown, Pitch approached again, and moved his hand beyond the opening.  
He immediately yanked it back, falling into the floor with a scream of agony ripping out of his throat.

The Boogeyman laid on the floor of the burned office, clutching his hand. The echoes of his pained scream surrounding him.  
The pain was immense, but fleeting, he couldn't feel it anymore but the ghostly remains of it made his hand spasm painfully.  
With ragged breaths he got back on his feet, holding his hand close to his face to assess the damage.

He hissed with equal parts rage and leftover pain.  
His left hand was basically ruined, the skin looking both charred and withered, he couldn't even move his fingers.

Such an annoyance.

Without much pause he shaped some of his sand into a dagger, and sliced off the now useless extremity, which exploded into fragments upon coming in contact with the floor, like cheap charcoal.  
Great, now it will take him at least a few days to gather enough power to regrow it.

He was seriously reconsidering using this place as a lair.  
After all, few good things could come from somewhere with a seal of that kind.

It's been some centuries since he found a new one. This one was strong, if a bit crude.  
Definitely mortal made.

It wouldn't be strong to contain something like him, not for long anyway, but it was certainly powerful enough to keep any regular spirit from getting in.

Or out.

With his remaining hand, Pitch (carefully) inspected the doorway, trying to determine more about the seal and it's origins.

It felt, incomplete? No that's not the right word, unrefined, yes.  
It's strength was raw, so to speak.

That meant this seal wasn't manufactured out of a ritual or a contract, no, this seal was born out of pure will and need.

Spite.

That's what powered this seal, whoever made this probably didn't do so knowingly, it was rare, but it happened.  
The requirements of a ritual being executed by chance and or coincidence.

Looking around the burnt room, an image was starting to form in the Boogeyman's mind.  
To seal a spirit from or into an area required a sacrifice, a soul, at the least.

Letting out a chuckle, Pitch gave the doorway a mocking bow, his temporary stump crossing his chest.

"My sincere compliments to whoever this seal was meant for, to have someone hate you so much that they would burn alive just to have you burn as well. Now that's an achievement."

Without another look back he returned to the stairs, ready to go back to the main building, when his miniature sand Nightmare suddenly came galloping down, looking for him.

Well well well, it seems the children's souls are back on the move.

Unfortunately, he will most likely have to let them be unsupervised tonight.  
It was one thing to simply be low on energy, but he couldn't afford to just sit still and wait for his hand to reform.

A quick travel through the globe, sneaking under a few dozens beds and terrorizing some children should be enough to get him healing. He could search for some children around the immediate area, but he couldn't risk the Guardians finding out about this place just yet.  
He could also try and collect some of the bound souls strength, but he'd rather wait until he could make sure it wouldn't drain them completely.

He will have to perform some tests, take the smallest portion of fear from them to see if and how long it would take them to... refill, so to speak.  
Wouldn't want to waste such precious resources in something as mundane as regrowing a hand.

Once he reached the main stage room again, Pitch found the four containers struggling against their bonds, but as soon as they saw him, they went still, mechanical bodies tense while their unblinking gazes zeroed on him.

He grinned, and was pleased when this caused the four to flinch away.

Without breaking eye contact, Pitch casually walked towards one of the room's corners, and actually sank into it. His body seamlessly melting into the shadows until only his eyes were visible.

"Be good now, I'll be back soon."

The sand holding the containers rushed towards the shadows, joining the Boogeyman as he left the building, his mocking cackle echoing in the room even after we was long gone.

The first one to move was the fox, creaking joints taking him towards the battered remains of a curtain covering a small stage, because that's where it was supposed to be.

The others followed through. Taking their previous places on the main stage.

Because that's where they supposed to be as well.  
That's where they'll always be.  
On that stage, standing still, not allowed to roam, not anymore, waiting.

Unmoving.

But the sound of shaking metal resounded through the room.

Because one of them was shaking in place, because somewhere deep, deep under the metal, under the wiring, under those zeroes and ones that keep screaming at it to follow some arbitrary but absolute rules, the soul remembered that one's body is supposed to shake when they are scared.

And right now, they were terrified.

But they weren't the only ones moving in the building.

Blackened and scorched metal fingers shakily and slowly grabbed hold of the small piece of scrap that Pitch black threw into the hallway down in the basement, and brought it in front of an equally ruined face.

The metallic jaw opened in a mockery of a smile, smaller, _rotten_ teeth were barely visible behind the oversized fake ones.

And there was a good reason to smile, he haven't had a new playmate in so long, after all.

This was sure to get fun.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> as they say, ah, yes, the plot chickens.
> 
> uh, not gonna lie im actually pretty happy and proud of this chapter, so enjoy!
> 
> also i feel like i should add a disclaimer here, the FNAF timeline has always been helluva hard for me to follow, like i got VERY lost on it, but to be honest, thats sorta what the games intend in my opinion, since you have to dig up a LOT for hidden information and clues to piece it all together in the correct order, so iv decided to use the canon timeline as more of a vague guide, so i guess this is an AU in some aspects besides a crossover.  
> anyway, felt like i had to clarify that, again, enjoy! and do tell me if you did so.


	5. Testing, testing, one two three.

\---

Your (current) name is THE WIND and you are quite worried about your friend, JACK FROST.

Granted, you got worried about him quite frequently, but hey, you remember being young and lanky and heavily unconcerned about your own safety as well.

But it's not reckless flight or badly thought out pranks (a great prankster plan each of his hits carefully, he doesn't just shoves snow inside a random spirit's lair) you are worried about this time.  
You are worried because Jack hasn't laughed nor smiled in the last forty seven hours and counting.

Of course this isn't the first time Jack's been on a foul mood, and not even close to the longest one (you still remember how the first century of Jack's existence as a spirit was the worst, the confusion, the hurt, the rage, the loneliness, stars, how you hated the loneliness as well.)  
But it's been quite some time since the last time.

You are currently carrying Jack towards the northeast, with no clear destination in particular.

Jack needed cheering up.

They were a couple of fail-safes way to make Jack smile, playing with children (though that could turn sour fast if one of them accidentally walked through him), visiting the Bennett kids, and annoying Bunnymund, to name a few.

The kids should still be in school at this hour, so Bunnymund it is.

And it wasn't hard to distract Jack from their sudden change in direction when you added some unnecessary but ultimately fun sudden drops, twirls and fast turns.

\---

Now that was better.

Pitch inspected his new hand carefully, making sure it was in perfect condition.  
It was identical to his previous one, down to the small scar between his middle and index finger, he had no memory of how that particular wound came to be, since that little scar had been there for as long as he could remember, and that was a long time.

All in all, not bad for such a... rushed feasting.

Fast food wasn't his usual go to, but he couldn't risk staying around the children for too long. No sense risking the Guardians finding out about his plans just yet.

He wasn't back at full strength yet, obviously, but he was definitely better off than when he first, ahem, stumbled into the restaurant.

Speaking of, it seems the place is just as he left it.

Actually, is wasn't, since he clearly remembers leaving the containers terrified and scattered on the floor, yet they all seemed to have returned to their original places on stage.

Interesting.

Also it seems his first theory about working hours was correct, he made sure to return to this place around the same hour he remembers the containers first freezing, and lo and behold, frozen they stood. 

Good, this was a good time as any to start... experimenting.

He will start small, of course, no reason to risk the souls just yet.  
A simple examination, to try and asses how much fear, and by extension, power each one contained. 

Not to mention what specific kind of fears, after all a fear born of trauma wasn't the same as one born from disgust, each fear was different.

He liked to compare it to different ice cream flavours, but he would never admit that out loud.

He will start with the bird, positioning himself in front of it, he gently placed his hands on it's temple.  
Slowly but steadily, black sand drifted away from his sleeves and into the machine, digging for the source of fear.

\---

After finally finding an open túnel, and after some fast turns here and there, the Wind deposited Jack safely into the Warren.  
Right after making him fly through some glittery paint waterfalls. 

Attracted by all the ruckus, Bunnymund found Jack spluttering, trying to rub the paint off of his eyes, the young spirit looking like a unicorn's fever dream.

"That's a good look on you, Frostbite, maybe try some less red next time though."

"Ha _-cough-_ ha."

Bunnymund let out a snort at Jack's flat tone.

"Need a towel kid?"

"Nah I'm good, I'm good, givme a second."

Grabbing hold of his staff with both hands, Jack gently pressed the wood against his forehead, and with a sudden burst of cold breeze, all the paint covering Jack froze instantly, and after a few shakes, it just flaked off of him and fluttered gently to the ground, like over colourful snowflakes.

Not a single speck of paint remained on him.

Bunnymund gave a whistle.

"That's some impressive control kid, you didn't even froze the ground around you."

The kid's smile widened in that particular way it did when he was very happy with a compliment but trying to not let it show.

"Ha yeah, I've been practicing."

"How often you end up covered in paint that you had to practice that?"

"Pfft, I mean my magic in general, kangaroo."

Bunnymund opened his mouth to question Jack but he stopped himself, usually this was the part where he asked the kid what the heck was he doing in his Warren, but... 

Something was off about the kid, his smile didn't stretch far enough, his eyes not as bright as usual.  
Jack was in a bad mood then.

"So why have you been practicing then?"

He asked instead, gesturing Jack to follow him to his living quarters deeper inside the Warren.

\---

Pitch shook his arms to get rid of the numbness, the bird had a descent enough quantity of fear insite it's soul.

Fear born from paranoia, and panic.

Telling.

This one had a secret, or was tasked with keeping a secret, the kind that would ruin your life if it came to light.

Now he moved towards the bear, and repeated the process.

\---

Bunnymund's quarters were, in a word, colourful.

The natural rock walls either covered in exotic looking tapestries, or painted with colorful abstract murals.  
There wasn't much in the way of furniture, other than shelves filled with either books or painting tools.  
There was also a dedicated wall for extra weapons.

Jack sat down on the moss carpeted floor, much more comfortable that it had any right to be.

"It's okay to be worried about the creep, kid."

"Yeah I know, I know. I mean the guy did almost "rule the world" or whatever super villain cliche he was planning, would be pretty dumb to not be a tad worried... Right?"

It was easy to forget just how young Jack was, but in moments like this, when the ice spirit tried to put on a nonchalant smile to hide just how worried he actually felt, all Bunnymund saw was another kid.

"Right, it's okay to be worried about these things. Is okay to be worried about lots of things, like me worrying you'll freeze my colouring tulips again."

The youngest let out an equal parts playful and annoyed groan.

"That was one time! Can't you just-"

The kid stop mid sentence, his eyes and grin widening.

"What?"

Bunnymund did not like that look.

"You really should..."

Okay Bunnymund definitely didn't like that familiar look.

"Don't you dare!-"

_"LET IT GOOO~"_

\---

Pitch took a few minutes to rest, the bear's fear wasn't as strong as the bird, but it packed a different punch.

Fear born of rage, and disgust.

So the soul was either disgusted by what scared it, or was disgusted by who did what scared it.

Next, the rabbit.

\---

It took the threat of some egg bombs to stop Jack's loud and off key singing.  
The threat did nothing to stop the kid's laughter though.

Bunnymund just grumbled.

"I love Sophie, but I HATE that song. She just wouldn't stop singing it."

"Pfft, you think you had it bad? You're not the one that has to keep coming up with excuses for why you can't make her a dress out of ice!"

The older Guardian snorted.

"How is that supposed to even work anyway."

\---

Cowardice, fear of disappointment, and of personal harm.

The typical fears of a follower who clinged to a stronger personality to avoid being their next victim.

So far, this one had the strongest fear, with the bird as a close second.

Now, the canine.

\---

"Wait you actually tried it?"

There was laughter in Bunnymund's voice.

"I got curious! Like, was it supposed to be like tiny interlocked ice, or like thin snow that didn't rip or mold together? I have no idea how they thought ice fabric works."

"How did it go?"

"I got stuck inside a solid ice shirt."

Bunnymund's laugher echoed through the entire Warren.

\---

It was like a miniature bomb had gone off in the room.

The old dust was completely blown away, scorch marks covered the floor, parts of the wall, and even ceiling.

Some of the wrecked tables still had flames clinging to them.

Sprawled in the floor, Pitch couldn't stop the painful coughs or the shaking of his newly injured arms.

He also couldn't stop the laughing.

Between wheezes and splutters the nightmare King laughed, an almost crazed smile stretching his lips.

His favorite flavor of fear.

"Now this... _-cough-_ This I can't wait to put to good use."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm so sorry this took so long, I was not planning on it, but to be honest, with the current situation I think we can all be excused to take some time off.
> 
> So anyway, enjoy this chapter! Comments are highly appreciated.
> 
> And stay safe everyone!


	6. First, you take out the guts.

If there was one positive thing about being soundly beaten time and time again, was that it gave Pitch plenty of free time to come up with eventual future plans.

He was, after all, a strategist at heart.

Or whatever served to replace his heart at the moment.

Point was, he already has some base plans that he can easily adjust to his current situation.

He might need to do some changes, but one thing was certain.

He already knows exactly who to target.

\---

It hit Jack at once just how little he actually knew his fellow Guardians, he was aware Bunnymund enjoyed painting, obviously, but he had no idea the pooka had an affinity for music as well.

"Can you really play all these?"

Jack was quite enthralled by the wall just covered by dozens of flute like instruments, some as small as a toy harmonica and others bigger than a tuba. 

They were wooden ones, metal, carved stone, and even a few that looked to be made of glass. Not two shared the same design nor colors.

"Most of them. Some weren't really built with four fingered paws in mind."

Bunnymund was glad he didn't just kicked the kid out, he already looked to be in way higher spirits than when he arrived.

"This is nothing though, you should see North's music room. I swear he must have at least one of every instrument."'

The kid's eyes seemed to sparkle with interest.  
But Bunnymund couldn't help but notice that Jack not only kept a good distance away from the instruments, but also kept both hands firmly grasping his staff.

"Didn't take you for the music type, kid, you play anything?"

Jack took his gaze away from the instruments, there might be a lazy grin on his face but it was easy for Bunnymund to see the longing in his eyes.

"Nah, last time didn't go so well."

"Last time?"

"Yeah, I sneaked into a music shop at closed hours to try, hey don't give me that look! I couldn't exactly ask for permission! Anyway the second I tried to touch a guitar the strings froze and snapped way before my fingers were close enough to strum. Felt so bad about it I made a huge ice sculpture in front of the shop advertising the place. Having in mind the news showed up to report the mysterious and wonderfully made giant ice guitar that showed up in the middle of the night gave the guy a hell of a sales boost, I don't think he was too mad about it."

Bunnymund just huffed with no real annoyance behind it, and asked to kid if he wanted to hear him play anything.

He made a mental note to talk with North later, if anyone would know how to craft a cold resistant instrument, it was him.

Maybe a flute carved out of ice? He has seen instruments made of stranger material. Heck, he owned instruments carved from stranger materials.

Like that trombone made of solidified tree sap a nymph gave him after he helped her with some flower pests problems.

Even a few hours after Jack left the warden, Bunnymund still sat on his own music room, playing a gentle melody on one of his pan flutes, this one an old gift.

He was thinking, trying to figure out what could had gotten the kid in a sour mood.

He was no stranger to teenager's moods swings, and he could only assume it was worse when said teenager was over three hundred years old.

The sweet melody flowed through the warden, and through the tunnels, the echo making sure it reached all across the world.

Everyone out there could always use some more hope.

The melody was sweet, and simple, a lullaby long lived.

It would feel right at home in any old music box.

\---

Pitch knew that his chances of success depended heavily on accurately anticipating the Guardians reactions and actions.

He already had a location on mind, after all he was sure the Guardians weren't any wise about his multiple lairs, it wouldn't do to have them become aware of his numerous residences.

Plus, there was no reason not to reuse resources, those cages weren't designed to just hold fairies, after all.

A few days to prepare, that's all he needs. 

A few quick trips to collect all the necessary... ingredients, so to speak, then he will make absolutely sure his caverns are set in the most efficient layout, just enough twist and turns to delay but not so many as to make one completely lost.

He will wait to collect the fox's (after finding some posters displaying the robot's names, it was a safe bet to say "Foxy the pirate" was a fox, following humans o so creative names like Chica the chicken and Bonnie the bunny.) fear and power to the last minute, having all that strength for days on end could very easily turn him quite... jittery and careless.

It was going to be hard, to part from it when the time comes, but oh so deliciously worth it if he manages to bring his plan to fruition.

No time like the present to start. 

First, he had some cages to fill.

\---

Not many people knew this about Jack (basically, just himself and the Wind.) but he actually didn't have much of a problem with warm situations.

Like the coziness of a fireplace, or a nice hot cocoa after a whole afternoon of playing in the snow.

Like oversized woolen socks, gloves and hat, making sure he wouldn't fall ill with the strong and frigid winter winds.

Or even those rare occasions he actually visited a beach, thought usually at night to avoid the harsh glare of the sun.

His amazement of the popular tourist location became a bit clearer once he got his memories back from the teeth box, after all, a shepherd's son never really got much of a chance to make the travel to the nearest beach.

It was peaceful, to just sit and stare at the waves gently rolling into the sand, the loud and repetitive noise only adding to the calm atmosphere.

The moodiness of the past few days felt long gone, he still wasn't completely sure where it had come from.

But just like a sudden huge wave, Jack's sense of peace came crashing down, when the northern lights suddenly illuminated the night sky.

Jack shoot towards the Pole as fast as the Wind could carry him.

\---

The restaurant was quiet, as usual, no unusual visitors crashing through the boarded windows, no old metal wandering around, no laugh neither childlike pure nor cruel in nature.

Just, silence.

A silence shared by the streets outside, no late orchestra of traffic with screeching tires or angry honking, no howling stray animals, no distant sirens.

Silence.

Silence so deep in fact, it allowed a far away melody to inch closer, it was a sweet small melody, shy, barely peeking from a closed off tunnel, with no other indication of it's previous location than a frail, withered looking flower.

The melody, timid yet curious, made its way deeper into the city, until finding it way into the restaurant.

And there, buried between other old boxes, something heard the melody, and from the first time in decades, it stirred into wakefulness.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Things are finally going somewhere, as always, comments are highly welcome! Let me know if you are enjoying this crazy ride


	7. Then, you carve the face.

Toothiana was so glad Jack had indirectly reintroduced her to field work.  
She hadn't even realized how much she missed it.

From incisors to molars, to canines.

From playing too rough, to biting too hard candy, to tying a loose one with a door because "trust me I've seen this in a hundred cartoons."

From kids so eager for the next morning that they go to bed a whole hour earlier.

To mischievous ones that will try to stay awake, then pretend to be asleep to catch a glance at one of her fairies. 

They always fall asleep first.

Unfortunately, visiting so many houses also bought back the reality that not all children had the opportunity to happily wait for a quarter.

From too small rooms, to tattered mattresses.

From loud yells through the entire night, to bruises and broken toys.

From tear stained pillows, to multiple still bloody teeth.

She hated how little she could intervine.

And maybe it was stretching the rules a bit, but if some quarters happened to be old gold coins, enchanted so that only the child could spend it, well, no one would complain.

No one decent, at least.

And if certain adults would happen to wake up with a horrible and intense tooth ache, well, they really should have flossed more.

All in all, tonight was a pretty good haul, but she was a tad worried about the high number of cavities nowadays, just because humans dental health had advanced so much this las couple of centuries, it was no excuse to just let kids gobble down as much sugar as they please!

Frantic chirping interrupts her sugary filled worried thoughts.

One of her fairies was desperately trying to catch her attention, panting as if she flew there as fast as her little wings could take her.

And after some fast pacing chat she thought she was justified to do so.

"Oh no."

Following the fairy's directions, Toothiana flew through the night sky of the city, dodging skyscrapers and giant advertisements alike, she truly preferred individual houses to apartments, those were such a pain to get into sometimes.

The home her little fairy told her about was luckily the former, it also stood out from the others like a sore thumb.

This was due to not only all the lights still on, but also the number of police cars parked around it, bathing the entire house in harsh and flashing reds and blues.

The loud sirens could almost drown the horrifying and grief filled wails of a couple.

Almost.

Toothiana wasn't a stranger to crime, and neither were her fairies, so this one must have had a good reason to call her over.

Avoiding the officers in the area, if only to not accidentally fly thorough someone, the Guardian entered the house through the window her little fairy did so earlier that night.

She immediately understood why she wanted her to see this.

What was once a little girl's room, was wrecked beyond repair.  
The numerous posters of popular cartoons and music bands were shredded and barely hanging to the wall, toys laid destroyed and scattered around, but the most telling was the furniture.

Destroyed, every piece of furniture was destroyed, from the toy chest to the computer desk to the wardrobe.

All crushed and hazardously throw around the room.

All except for the bed.

The bed that not only was unscathed but also in it's proper place.

There appeared to be scratches on the wooden floor, leading under the bed, as if someone small was forcefully dragged into the small dark space.

Toothiana felt faint with horror, horror that only grew worse when a few more fairies flew into the room, all reporting similar situations all over town.

The police will not be able to find these missing kids.

\---

Jack barely keep himself from crashing through the windows of the globe room, or maybe splattering against them, North built pretty though stuff, after all.

"I'm here! I'm here, what happened?"

He was surprised to see he wasn't the last one to arrive, there was North approaching him and Bunnymund trying to talk to a very frantic and angry looking Toothiana, but no Sandman in sight.

"Hello Jack! We will explain as soon as, ah Sandy! Welcome, welcome."

The little golden man nodded, having just arrived aboard his sand plane, that he quickly dispelled.

"Great! Everyone's here, now meeting can start. Tooth! Tell everyone else what you told me, please."

As the tooth fairy fluttered in place, she looked both nervous and enraged, not an expression Jack was used to see in her face.

"Right, so I was out collecting teeth in south America, vacations just started in Argentina so lots of kids playing outside and that means lots of new loose _-cough- _what? Oh yes, sorry, suddenly one of my fairies alerted me that the house she was supposed to collect from was attacked-"__

____

____

"Attacked? Like a robbery or something?"

"Breaking and entering isn't really on Guardian duty, Frostbite, so I doubt Tooth here would have called us for that."

"Thank you Bunny, but yes, it wasn't something like a robbery. The kid's room was just, destroyed, everything stomped or slashed to pieces, everything except... Everything except for the bed."

A shush fell across the room.

"Guys, they were marks on the floor... Like I'd something had dragged the kid under the bed."

"Chyort voz’mi!"  
"That son of a-"  
"!? !!!"  
"Are you saying Pitch took a kid?"

Uncharacteristically enough, Jack was the quietest exclamation, well, second to Sandy's.

"Not just one."

That made the rest of the Guardians to quickly stop talking.

"A lot more of my fairies came to find me after reporting similar cases, I had them spread around the country and... And they found a total of seventeen missing kids."

Jack legs felt like Jell-O, if it wasn't for Bunnymund's strong and sudden hold on his arm he would have fallen to the floor.  
But if Bunnymund's constant grip was anything to go by, he needed as much support as he was giving.

"This makes no sense. Pitch should not be strong enough to do this, not so soon."

"We need to go get those kids, who knows what that bastard is planning for them!"

"You don't think he's trying to make new fearlings... Right?"

At Tooth's question North let out a new constant string of Russian curses.  
Meanwhile Jack felt like he was missing a vital piece of information.

"Uh guys? What's a fearling?"

The other Guardians flinched, it was easy to forget how young Jack was and how much of the spirit world he still didn't know.  
North was the one to explain.

"Fearlings are... Awful, awful creatures. Living shadows that got ripped away from their bodies after an horrible and usually deadly ritual. They were once one of Pitch's strongest minions. And the younger the body they originate from, the stronger they can eventually grow."

Jack shuddered at the horrible mental image, but something was off about this.

"Wait, wait if Pitch could do something like this, why haven't he done it before?"

"Because creating fearlings, even just taking children away, would require a lot of power, power Pitch didn't have, nor should he have. Kids this age don't believe in the Boogeyman nearly enough to allow him such power boost."

Bunnymund's eyes widened.

"But they'll do now. That psycho! So many disappearing kids in one night is bound to make international news! And sure adults will try to come up with a rational explanation, but kids? Kids all over the world will hear about children getting dragged under their beds, hundreds of kids are going to think, fear, and worst of all, _believe _in the Boogeyman."__

__"It doesn't explain how Pitch got strong enough to take the kids in the first place, but Bunny makes a good point, this could be a disaster."_ _

__"All the best reason to hurry! We need to get to Pitch's lair pronto!"_ _

__Unseen by the Guardians, a miniature Nightmare runs back to her master, her work of overhearing their plans complete._ _

__Pitch Black chuckles, the echo mixing the cruel sound with the terrified whimpers coming from deeper in the caverns._ _

__"Yes Guardians, do hurry. So we can finally get this party started."_ _

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I realize this fic so far has been like, 90% ROTG, but if all goes to plan more and more FNAF shall be added in the upcoming chapters. Hope you all still enjoying this!
> 
> Comments are highly appreciated.


	8. Finally, you light up the candle.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Not really graphic but still some violence warning.
> 
> Also more author notes under explaining some stuff.

The restaurant was messy.

Not because of the dust or cobwebs, nor the litter or old grease and overly sugary soda stains, but because of the scorch marks.

The stage room was an absolute wreck, wood splinters and burned off paper hats everywhere, the stench of half melted plastic plates stagnated the room.

And in the middle of all the destruction, lies Foxy the pirate.

Not too long ago, the man made of shadows and sand had approached the once red animatronic, and stole something from it.

It left it drained, weak, and, for lack of a better term, burnt out.

Poor Foxy.

Left there, sprawled on the floor, like a discarded doll.

Or like a puppet who's strings got cut.

They knew that feeling well.

Black fingers pet the fox's head, whispering reassurances without words, and wishes for a peaceful if momentary rest, stars above knows they both deserve it by now.

Meanwhile, the mechanical eyes located on almost every room keep on observing, as they always do.

Amazing how little influence it takes to control them, to see through them.

To learn through them.

\----~wTw~----

The hole was just where they remember it being, a few remaining bed frame splinters still around it.  
It wasn't that long ago that they saw Pitch getting dragged through it by his own nightmares.

Even though they knew other entrances existed, this was the only know they were sure of it's location, after a few seconds of hesitance, the Guardians jumped in.

Pitch's lair hasn't changed at all, but to be fair, neither had any of theirs. House make overs wasn't something many spirits did frequently.  
If at all.

There was one new addition though.

Whimpers.

The unmistakable, heartbreaking sound of children too terrified to outright sob.  
The horrible sound echoed all around the caverns, making it imposible to pinpoint their location.

There was a very noticeable anger in Bunnymund voice.

"The kids are here alright, we should check those cages he used for your fairies first, Tooth."

The condescending sarcasm was just as obvious in Pitch's voice.

"You were always the smart one, rabbit."

The Guardians were immediately on edge, as Pitch's voice bounced and warped all around them.

"If you hurt a hair of those kids so help me Pitch I'll-"

"You'll what rabbit? Give me a spoiled egg?"

"I was thinking more along the lines of dragging you down to a pit, but oh wait, we already did that! How did your precious nightmares treated you, Boogeyman?"

A chuckle was not the reaction Bunnymund was hoping for.

"You Guardians are so... predictable. Oh, woe is me, my own nightmares born of my own power betray and drag me away from all my enemies, such tragic fate."

Pitch's laughter wrapped around them, his mocking words full of implications none of them liked.

"What do you mean-"

**"OH USE YOUR HEADS FOR ONCE!"**

Pitch shouting was completely unexpected for Jack, and once he saw his fellow Guardians expressions and raised weapons, he realized it was for them as well.

The shout had been so loud, Jack could still see dust falling from the cavernous ceiling, the echo amplifying and repeating the angry words over and over.

"I knew all chances of victory were gone as soon as that brat walked through me, just as I knew you lot wouldn't just let me slip away quietly. No no no, your ego wouldn't allow you that. You would follow me to finish the job, to either try to destroy me further or maybe even seal me away. So, all I had to do was put on a little show."

A few nightmares materialized from the shadows, first calmly trotting, then suddenly appearing incredible aggressive and mimicking chasing someone, running circles around the Guardians.

"Pitch Black, dragged into a pit by his own creations, isn't it poetic. I knew you would fall for something as stupid as that, just as I knew you wouldn't even bother to check on my fate afterwards, you know why? Because you Guardians, drunk in all your belief, are lazy. You take all for granted, even your victories."

While the others grit their teeth in anger at Pitch's words, Jack worried his lip in shame. Because he could see the Boogeyman's point. They didn't even check. Pitch Black, who just minutes before had been a genuine threat for all the children of the world, and they didn't even bother to make sure he was in no position to attack again.

Sure, Jack wasn't a fan of the idea of kicking someone while they were down, but they outright ignored Pitch entirely.

If they followed the nightmares back then, maybe Pitch would still be weak.

Maybe those kids wouldn't be crying, terrified and in cages.

"Ah, but maybe I shouldn't be so harsh, after all, you had a whole new Guardianship to celebrate! I hope whatever little party they threw you was worth it, Jack."

Seeing Jack flinch made Bunnymund see red, he hoisted his boomerangs ready for action, if only he could pinpoint where that bastard's voice was coming from.

"You are going to release those kids right now you heard me."

"Now now, rabbit, there's no need to get violent. In fact, what was what you said Jack? Oh yes, we are going to have a little fun instead."

Abruptly, the children's whimpers were replaced by terrified and shrill screams, but now the disorienting effect was gone, the Guardians could clearly her how the screams were coming from different hallways in the cavern.

The Guardians were being forced to split up.

"You should hurry now, children are so... clumsy and fragile."

With that parting line, Pitch's voice disappeared, not once had he showed up on person for the conversation.

"We gotta split up!"

"Nyet! We don't! That's what Pitch wants! There's not enough of us to check all cavern anyway, we go in teams! Toothy, you and Sandy choose a path, Bunny you are with Jack, I'll go on my own, I have my snowgloves if I need to retreat"

Even though they could see North's logic, it didn't mean they had to agreed to it.

"Can't you call some yetis to help us search?"

"Afraid not, Jack. I have the yetis spread thin around the globe, in case Pitch just brought us here to be able to sneak away and take more children somewhere else."

"Fine, I don't like it but we don't have time to fool around, come on Frostbite try to keep up."

Jack might not had to deal with Pitch as much or half as long as the others, but something just didn't sat right with him about the way the Boogeyman acted like.  
Sure, him gloating and calling them idiots with a bunch of fancy melodrama villain words was pretty on point, but he would have usually show himself to do so.

Another scream reminded him that Pitch wasn't the priority right now.

The first batch of kids was surprisingly easy to find, and so was the cause of their screams.

Four kids were crammed into a single slightly big cage, that was hanging above a seemingly bottomless chasm.

A cage that was being furiously shaken and kicked by half a dozen nightmares.

Seeing those little kids being bounced around a metal cage, getting hurt, screaming terrified while clinging to the bars as hard as they can, made Jack the angrier he's even been.

And for a three hundred years old teenager, that was saying a lot.

He and Bunnymund charged as one, with Aster getting as close to the chasm edge as possible, throwing his boomerangs to the nightmares, while Jack blasted them away with his magic.

Luckily, they made short work of the sand beasts, they weren't much of a treat in such a small number.

Then it was just a matter of making some sturdy ice stairs to allow Aster to get to the cage and take the kids on safe ground, if the situation wasn't so dire, Jack was pretty sure he would be making some more Elsa jokes.

Getting the children to calm down was proving to be a much harder battle.

Specially since only one of the Guardians could talk to them.

Even though Jack was steadily gaining more and more believers, they were all still pretty near to Burgess general area, around the globe Jack was still as invisible as he's been for the last three centuries.

He hated it now more than ever.

"Uh Bunny? What do we do with the kids now?"

As Bunnymund tried his hardest to comfortingly hug the four kids at once, he couldn't help but frown.

"We can't leave them here, obviously, but I can't just drop them down a tunnel! Being thrown around is the last thing this kids need."

"Right, right. So what? Do we make them follow us around Pitch's place?"

Even as Jack said it he could tell that was also a pretty bad idea.

"Jack! Bunny!"

A pretty bad idea that apparently his fellow guardians opted for.

From a different opening than the one Jack and Aster came through, came Toothiana, holding three children, one in each arm and another on her back, making it impossible for her to fly, Sanderson was carrying five more in a floating golden sand inflatable raft, and North had four, two on each arm, one of them clinging to his beard.

Both Toothiana and Sandy looked intact, North on the other hand was limping just slightly, his coat sported some new tears and his hat was nowhere to be seen.

"Oh thank the moon it's you! I hate this place! It's so twisting and confusing, but we got the kids! And looks like you did as well!"

"Yeah, we got the ankle bitters all right."

All the kids were still pale and shaking like a leaf, but Tooth's colorful appearance and Sandy's gently glow seemed to put them at ease, if only so.

"Wait we got all the kids? That seems way too easy."

"Two-three-four, nyet Jack, there's still one missing."

"Why would Pitch put all the kids in group but one?"

"Leverage? Who knows with that maniac, the important thing now is figuring out what we do with these kids, you okay North?"

"Yes Bunny don't worry, there was a few more nightmares guarding the cage than I expected, but good news is that I got all the children safely! Bad news is that I lost my snow globes, Pitch's nightmares kept yanking on my coat till they fell out, then CRASH! They smashed every last one!"

"You really can't tell something without adding sound effects can you?"

"Ha! And why would I ever stop?"

"Guys, focus."

The Guardians back and forth good natured bickering was helping put the kids at ease, a few of them even giggled.

"Right right... Okay! Here's plan! Bunny, you make a tunnel to the kid's hometown, near police station if possible, then you guide Sandy through, Sandy you have to make something big enough to carry all the children."

Bunnymund could see the logic in that plan, but also a pretty big flaw.

"Dunno mate, Sandy is one of our best weapons against Pitch's nightmares, we might need him here."

"Then you better hurry."

"You calling me slow?"

Two things happened at once, that ruined all progress on the children not feeling scared.

First, in the distance a sudden shrill scream, the last child.

And second, and only slightly more worrisome, nightmares started pouring out of the chasm underneath the still hanging cage.

Easily a hundred of them.

"Shield the children! Bunny! Open a tunnel now! Sandy, get ready!"

It was a tornado of activity, Jack, Tooth and North were hard at work making a safe perimeter in the middle of the raging nightmares, while Sandy quickly gathered his sand and shaped if like a two rows of rollercoaster seats, with enough room to seat all the children.

Children who were frozen in panic at the sight of so many of the monsters that had been terrorizing them for the last hours.

Bunnymund quickly opened a tunnel, and tried to get the kids to get inside the seats.

"C'mon c'mon, I know it's scary but you are going to be fine. North! We need to make some room!"

"Then I got good news and bad news!"

Bunnymund raised an eyebrow to Jack's almost playful tone.

"What's the good news?" He shouted over the neighs and whinnies of the nightmares.

"Ice dresses weren't the only thing I was curious about!"

With that quite confusing message, Jack slammed the butt of his staff as hard as he could in the rock floor, a gust of ice cold wind exploded outwards, instantly freezing the humidity in the air making snow and ice appear almost out of nowhere.

Snow and ice that quickly took form, shaping into hulking figures as big as North's yetis, if not bigger, with bodies made of snow and huge spikey fists made of ice.

With a silent roar, the dozen or so figures launched themselves to the nightmares, who got pushed back due to the sudden arrival of the snow creatures.

Bunnymund let out a startled laugh, while North, Tooth and Sandy looked on completely dumbfounded.

The children's eyes were wide with wonder, looking at how the icy warriors pummeled away the monsters.

"And what's the bad news?!"

"Jamie told me they just announced a sequel!"

Bunnymund groaned good naturally.

"Great, more ruddy songs, you better not start singing again, I swear to the moon, Jack Frost!"

"Jack Frost?"

The kid's whisper was lost in the storm of noise around them, but somehow Jack heard it, and when he turned to look at the kid who spoke, he found sixteen pair of eyes locked on him.

Jack's eyes and smile widened, it always felt so amazing when he gained new believers.

"Come on kids! Get into those seats and I promise I'll bring your town the best snow day ever!"

With small and hopeful smiles the children did as told, and Sandy and Bunny lost no time in getting them out of there.

"Just hold on until we get back!"

With that the tunnel closed behind them, and the remaining Guardians were free to focus on the offensive, the nightmares by now reduced to about half their initial numbers.

But the remaining child screamed again.

North, now pretty sure they could hold on on their on, specially with Jack's helpers, made a quick decision.

"Jack! Fly ahead of us! Find the child but do not engage Pitch alone! Try to get the kid away, if you can't, just focus on keeping them safe until we can join you!"

Jack hesitated for a second, after all they were already two Guardians short, but North and Tooth seemed to have things in control here, specially with the help of his... snow golems? Ice warriors? Two cool four school gang? Okay so maybe he still hasn't come up with a decent name, but he was working on it.

The Guardian of fun blasted a hole through the remaining nightmares, and blasted off in the direction of the screams, it took some twist and turns, but he finally reached a big chamber, one he hadn't seen before.

Or at least, he assumed it to be pretty big.

The shadows seemed denser somehow, not letting him see more than a few feet in each direction, he could see not the walls nor ceiling, not even the floor, the chamber could be a bottomless void for all he knew.

The only thing he could see clearly, was the child.

A little girl, seven maybe eight years old. Instead of a cage, she was simply suspend by a rope made of black sand, wrapped tightly around her body, in fact the sand almost covered her entirely, leaving only her mouth free.

She was pale as a ghost, and was breathing heavily, obviously in panic.

But as soon as Jack tried to get closer, Pitch's booming voice stopped him on his track.

"Not so fast, Jack."

Well, it wasn't just Pitch's voice, it was also the horrible noise of the child suddenly chocking, as the sand wrapped too tight around her neck.

"Pitch, stop!"

**"YOU FIRST!"**

Jack did so, he stayed completely still, because Pitch's shout had made the child broke into almost silent sobs.

The poor girl was terrified.

"Good, good Jack. Now, I'm going to show you something very important, pay attention now."

With that, the sand covering the girl's eyes dispersed, letting her frantic gaze to sweep desperately around the darkness.

She couldn't see this Jack the bad man was taking to.

She let out a startled scream when the sand suddenly blindfolded her once more.

"Now, listen. You know who I'm talking with little girl? Do you?"

Jack could barely hear the no between the whimpers, his hands clenching his staff as hard as he could. The others better hurry.

"I'm talking with Jack Frost, have you ever heard of him? No? He is the spirit of snow, and Guardian of fun, and he came all the way here, just to rescue you."

Pitch's voice was a mockery of sweetness, it made Jack sick.

The girl was allowed to see once more, and with an almost hopeful gasp, her eyes locked with Jack's. She could see him now.

"See Jack? **SEE?! THIS IS WHAT WE COULD HAVE ACHIEVED TOGETHER!** We could had have all the believers we ever wished for, but **NO!** you had to run to the Guardians, didn't you?!"

The Boogeyman's voice left all pretense of sweetness, now nothing more than rage.

"Now, tell her, Jack. Tell her what you told the other brat."

Pitch's erratic mood swings were worrying Jack, the spirit had never seemed so, unstable before.

"Come on Jack, **TELL HER!** "

The girl started to cry again.

"Hey! Hey it's okay! I know, I know things seems scary now, okay? But it's, it's fine now, we are going to have some fun instead, okay?"

Jack tried to make his voice as soothing as possible, and if the kid's hopeful look was any clue, he was doing a pretty good job so far.

Then Pitch chuckled.

"No, jack. **I'M** going to have some fun."

And with that chilling line, the sand holding the girl dissipated entirely.

She dropped fast, with a shrill scream. The darkness of the pit under her almost seemed to swallow her with how fast she fell.

"NO!"

Jack shoot like a bullet after her, only to almost immediately and painfully collide with the cavern floor, a floor that just wasn't there a second ago.

Her scream continued, echoing around him.

Desperately, jack threw himself to the walls, the ceiling, any shadow he could find, the room was now completely solid, and quite smaller than he thought.

"Hurry Jack, you are running out of time."

"PITCH STOP!"

Before Jack could launch himself again, he was stopped by the sudden interruption of the girl's scream.

Interruption by a noise Jack was sure would haunt him for the rest of his existence, replacing the sound of the ice cracking under him in his nightmares.

The wet sound of bones breaking, and flesh being ripped apart on impact.

"Oh, Jack. You really make a mess everywhere you go."

Jack barely payed attention to Pitch's mocking words, he fell to his knees dropping his staff in despair.

He couldn't catch her.

He wasn't fast enough.

It was his fault.

If we wasn't so struck with sudden grief, maybe Jack could have notice Pitch stepping out of the shadows behind him, maybe he could have seen how something was obviously different about the Boogeyman. 

His once pale hands seemed covered in soot, with ashes and embers floating around them.

Smoke seemed to be coming out of his glowing yellow eyes.

Without a word he launched towards Jack, grasping his head and digging his fingers into his scalp, and Jack screamed.

He could feel something, something awful forcing its way inside his mind and his magic, something poisonous, angry and all consuming.

Something that seemed to burn him from the inside out.

Jack screamed.

And Pitch laughed.

"Isn't it marvelous Jack!? Isn't it incredible, horrible and **DELICIOUS?!** "

Jack kept on screaming.

"How does it feel Jack?! The fear of punishment, of failure?! How does my favorite fear feels?!"

Jack couldn't hear Pitch.

"A fear born of **GUILT!** "

He could only hear the horrible sound of a girl falling to her death.  


**Notes for the Chapter:**

> SO ITS BEEN AWHILE UH
> 
> Over two months actually *painful wheeze*
> 
> So a bunch of stuff happened, like my phone flipping DYING AND TAKING ALL MY WIPS (INCLUDING THE FIRST HALF OF THIS CHAPTER) TO THE GRAVE WITH IT. 
> 
> So I got a pretty big case of the dumps, BUT ABOUT A WEEK AGO I MANAGED TO RECOVER MY STUFF SO YAY.
> 
> So to apologise for the late update, here's a chapter 3 times longer than usual! Which brings me to my next point, would you guys prefer longer chapters with slower updates like this one, or should I stick to shorter chapters faster updates?
> 
> Anyway, let me know your thoughts, as always, comments sustain my soul.
> 
> Hope you enjoy!


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